Hunters, taxidermists and meat processors asked to help in keeping Arkansas CWD free

LITTLE ROCK – Wildlife biologists with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have implemented new rules in an effort to increase Arkansas’s defenses against chronic wasting disease. This disease is more commonly known as CWD.

The ailment, which has no known cure, has taken a heavy toll on deer and the tradition of deer hunting in other states – but not Arkansas. To date, no cases of CWD have been found in the state, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, along with several thousand Arkansans, want to keep it that way. With the help of hunters, taxidermists and meat processors here in Arkansas, the AGFC hopes to do just that.

A critical line of defense is not bringing in the carcasses of cervids (members of the deer family) from other states. Cervids include all deer species, elk, moose and caribou. With the new carcass importation regulation in place, only certain portions of these specific species may be brought into or transported through Arkansas. This carcass ban further reduces the risk of infecting Arkansas’s deer and elk herd.

“Know before you go,” said Cory Gray, AGFC’s deer program coordinator. “Arkansas hunters can still bring home their successes from other states but they are now required to take a few extra steps in doing so.”

This means whole or quartered carcasses are not allowed. In the past, hunters have often partially processed game animals, packed them into coolers and headed home. Because CWD resides in numerous locations throughout a cervid’s body, removing those portions prior to transport greatly reduces the chance of transferring the disease to a new location.

So what portions may out-of-state hunters bring back to or even through Arkansas?

CWD is a neurological (brain and nervous system) disease found in cervids and is always fatal. CWD is similar to mad cow disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep. The disease belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases. Prions are abnormally shaped proteins that are not destroyed by cooking. Prions generally accumulate in the brain, eyes, spinal cord, lymph nodes, tonsils, and spleen of infected animals.

Scientists do not completely understand how CWD is spread, although research indicates the agent responsible for the disease may be spread directly through animal-to-animal contact or indirectly through the soil or other surface-to-animal contact.

More information

Not only should out of state hunters know the cervid carcass importation rules in their home or destination state, they should also know the rules of the state(s) they will be passing through with their harvest. For more information on CWD and individual state regulations concerning cervid carcass importation rules visit www.cwd-info.org.

There is a better way, according to wildlife biologists with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission – food plots with a variety of plantings.

Ralph Meeker, AGFC’s assistant deer program coordinator, says hunters can more effectively improve nutrition (for deer) by planting stuff in the ground instead of pouring it out of a bag. “One factor is that an assortment of plantings can provide supplemental food for deer virtually year round. Feeders with supplemental feed or corn can be used all year as well, but this approach isn’t near as nutritional or cost effective,” he explained.

Another downside to using feeders is that they are not a natural option for deer that are out looking for food. Deer are selective feeders, not livestock. Deer take a few bites here, move on and take some more bites there. “The average deer eats about seven pounds of food a day, but deer don’t stand and eat all seven pounds at a feeder,” Meeker noted. “Nearly 75 percent of their diet is still dependent on vegetation. As a result, the vegetation they eat makes much more of an impact on their nutrition than what they receive from a feeder.”

Other downsides to feeders are that they attract several other unwanted wildlife species, such as raccoons, feral hogs, coyotes and bobcats. Also, due to a feeder’s ability to concentrate wildlife, the likelihood of disease transmission also is increased. Add to that some corn may contain high levels of a toxic compound known as aflatoxin, which is produced by a fungus that infects grains grown under droughty, stressful conditions.

Deer feeding is popular, Meeker says. “A 2011 survey of several Arkansas deer clubs showed that 89 percent of them fed deer and 96 percent of these used corn,” Meeker said. “The common perception is that feeders attract big bucks. Research has shown that baiting can actually decrease the chances of a hunter being able to successfully harvest a deer. This is because deer begin to visit feeders more at night rather during the day,” he added.

With plantings in food plots, deer hunters and club managers can give deer a wide variety of high quality food sources ranging from soy beans and varieties of peas to clover and brassicas (turnip, kale and rape). “As much as 10,000 pounds per acre with a protein content of more of 25 percent and at a cost of about 3 cents per acre,” Meeker said.

Meeker also strongly suggests that hunters should test their soil before planting a food plot. This will tell how much lime and fertilizer will be needed to get the most growth out of plantings. Soil samples can be taken to the local county extension office and a free analysis will be sent by mail in a couple of weeks.

Youth-only deer hunt scheduled for Cooks Lake

Youth-only deer hunt scheduled for Cooks Lake

CASSCOE - White River National Wildlife Refuge, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation will be holding a youth-only deer hunt at Cooks Lake during the 2013 hunting season. The hunt will be held Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Only 10 permits will be issued to youth 15 years of age and under as of Dec. 2, 2013. A mandatory hunter orientation will be held on Nov. 23.

The hunt will only be available to hunters who have not been selected for the hunt in the past. Each selected participant will be required to have an unarmed chaperone 21 years of age or older.

All participants will be required to have completed a hunter education course prior to the hunt. Applications must be postmarked by Oct. 15.

To apply for the hunt, print or type the youth applicant’s complete name, hunter education number and phone number on the back of a U.S. postcard. Send the postcard to White River National Wildlife Refuge, c/o Jay Hitchcock, P.O. Box 205, St Charles, AR, 72140.

Applicants also may apply in person at the visitor center in St. Charles. For more information contact Hitchcock at 870-282-8246.

Buffalo River trip set a pattern for Randy Wilbourn

Buffalo River trip set a pattern for Randy Wilbourn

LITTLE ROCK -- When Randy Wilbourn was an enthusiastic Boy Scout in Conway, he was introduced to the Buffalo River on a 10-day float and fishing trip. It set a pattern for him that remains a driving force a half-century later. Wilbourn retains strong interests in the Scouts, in the Buffalo and has added an impressive list of other activities in addition to a successful business career.

He is now a principal in Martin-Wilbourn Partners, a Little Rock marketing and public relations firm. This came after his years as senior vice president to Alltel, the Arkansas-based communications operation, before it was sold to Verizon.

He’s the president of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. He has been president of the Little Rock Chamber of commerce and the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce. He helped launch Arkansas Nature Conservancy. He served on the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. He is on the Hendrix College Board of Trustees.

Results are a reliable yardstick of a person’s civic work, and Wilbourn can reflect on a variety of achievements that took place during his time with these organizations.

Examples are Pollution Control and Ecology’s advancement in controlling in-stream gravel mining, in protecting the upper Saline River area and in creating a reliable minimum flow of water for the White River’s trout habitat.

In his nearly two-dozen years with the Game and Fish Foundation, conservation education facilities were created at Cook’s Lake in southeast Arkansas and on Crooked Creek in north Arkansas. Both are used year-round for school field trips and for many other events. A state-of-the-art public shooting range is under construction at Jacksonville. And the Foundation has been involved in many other projects in conjunction with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Randy and Judy Wilbourn gave funds to establish the Scott Henderson Fellowship Program, a project of Hendrix College, Arkansas Nature Conservancy and the Game and fish Foundation. It provides internships with the Game and Fish Commission for Hendrix environmental science students.

Wilbourn has been active in southwest Arkansas in helping protect the wildlife-rich Little River surroundings in issues with the construction of a major coal-fired electricity generating plant.

Wilbourn smiles when he tells about that Scout trip on the Buffalo in the days before the river was protected as the Buffalo National River.

“We had adult leaders like Dr. James Flanigan Sr., and Harold Alexander.” Both have been inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame. “We had Grumman aluminum john boats, and this was in July. Harold Alexander went ahead of us in a canoe, and told us just to come down the river until we found him. We fished and we slept under the boats, those memories last a lifetime.”

Wilbourn and his wife Judy live in Little Rock. They have a daughter, two sons and six grandchildren.

The Outdoor Hall of Fame began in 1992 as a project of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation to recognize Arkansans' achievements in outdoor fields and to protect wildlife habitat.

For more information on the Outdoor Hall of Fame and tickets to the induction banquet, contact Steve Smith at 501-223-6396 or Wendy Henderson at 501-223-6468.